The first issue; I see many of the people those who appear to be committed not only committed to the obligatory acts of worship rather also committed to the optional acts of worship. And those are fards which are recommended such as remembrance Allah after the prayer such as saying Tasbeeh (SubhanAllah), Tahmeed (Alhamdulilaah) and the Takbeer (Allahu Akbar) and things like this.

I see some of them when they want to work by the statement of the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam when he said – << Whoever says “SubhanAllah” after every prayer 33 times, and says “Alhamdulilaah” 33 times and Allahu Akbar 33 times and then makes it a complete 100 by saying “Laa ilaaha ill-Allaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer”. Then he shall be forgiven for his sins even if they were like the foam of the ocean>>. And this narration is authentic for it was narrated by Imam Muslim in his Saheeh[1]

When they want to work by this hadeeth, you see some of them not even close to making a distinction with their tongue when saying “SubhanAllah” and “Alhamdulilaah” and “Allahu Akbar”. So what do you hear (and the shaykh starts imitating them by saying “SubhanAllah” very quickly). Have you seen like I have seen, I think you have. I’m not the only one here who seen this so what should we call this sabsabee (meaning what said in this fashion it cannot be called Tasbeeh). And then they go (the shaykh starts imitating them by saying “Alhamdulilaah” very quickly). This is not saying “SubhanAllah”, this is not saying Alhamdulilaah and then they go (the shaykh starts imitating them by saying Allahu Akbar very quickly). In an instance in a second, they have finished the entire 100.

The one who praises Allah hundred times in the afore mentioned manner, what is the reward for this? Allah will forgive him for his sins even if they were like the foam of the ocean?. Is the reward the same for the one who says it in a rush hared manner?, Allah forbid. Therefore it is upon us to take our time and be deliberate and to say “SubhanAllah”, “SubhanAllah”, “SubhanAllah”, “Alhamdulilaah”, “Alhamdulilaah” up until the end..

I do not intend by my speech which I’m about to say to prevent the people from saying SubhanAllah 33 times and praising Allah as is found in the remaining part of the hadeeth. Rather I only intend to bring something for those who rush, something which is Islamically better for them and easier for them to do.

And I think you will be hearing this hadeeth for the very first time or at least some of you will be hearing it for the first time. It is very important hadeeth and it is also hadeeth which is authentic and has collected by Imam An-Naasa’i and Hakim and other then them and has been narrated from two companions with two authentic chains of narrations [2]

A man from the companions of the Prophet sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam saw a person in his dream and the person asked him a question – he said “What have you been taught by the Messenger” he said he had taught us “SubhanAllah” and then he mentioned the number we already clarified in the previous hadeeth. And so the person said to the person who is having the dream, make it 25, make it 25 meaning say “SubhanAllah walhamdulillaah, walaa ilaaha illal Allah, wallaahu Akbar” 25 times, say all 4 of them together 25 times. So instead of the person counting out 100, how will he count? He will count out 25 and by counting out 25 like this it’s going to force the person to go slow and he will not be able to rush like the rushing that we have severely criticised. So regardless of how fast the person tries to rush saying “SubhanAllah” he will not be able to because after that he has to say “Alhamdulilaah” so regardless how much he wants to rush, he’s going to have to pronounce the phrases in a more compete manner than if he were to say (the shaykh starts saying “SubhanAllah” very quickly). Just as the one who wants to praise Allah by saying La illaha illa Allah, La illaha illa Allah, La illaha illa Allah and then after a while you hear them praising Allah and it has become Allaah, Allaah, Allaah.. (the Shaykh starts saying Allah, Allah, Allah very quick)

Therefore this is a protection for those individuals who rush after the prayer in making the Tasbeeh and making the Tahmeed. When they do in the manner which is mentioned in the first hadeeth, they rush it so it is upon them to join these four phrases together and to say them 25 times so they will say “SubhanAllah walhamdulillaah, walaa ilaaha illal Allah, wallaahu Akbar”. They will say this 25 times and this is better according to the text of the hadeeth because this person saw in his dream and there could be a dream which is confused and we aren’t the people who can explain dreams so we don’t know the explanation of it but this man, he saw a vision and he narrated this to the Prophet sallalahu alaihi wa sallam and so his answer to him was “then do it like this, then do it like this”

So now we have a fiqh question, is this abrogating the first hadeeth saying SubhanAllah 33 times, Alhamdulilaah 33 times, Allahu Akbar 33 times and to the end of the hadeeth. No. this is not abrogating it but rather it is a preference, so if the person when he is finished his prayer is able to say the remembrance 33 times in a calm, deliberate manner then there is nothing preventing him from doing this but it will be better to combine these 4 phrases together and say them 25 times “SubhanAllah walhamdulillaah, walaa ilaaha illal Allah, wallaahu Akbar” .. like this 25 times and this will be better then what appears in the first hadeeth.

Footnotes: [1] Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) as saying:If anyone extols Allah after every prayer thirty-three times, and praises Allah thirty-three times, and declares His Greatness thirty-three times, ninety-nine times in all, and says to complete a hundred:” There is no god but Allah, having no partner with Him, to Him belongs sovereignty and to Him is praise due, and He is Potent over everything,” his sins will be forgiven even If these are as abundant as the foam of the sea. [Sahih Muslim in the Book of Prayers]